What is the best way to cable my small office with Cat6?

[V. Perkins]

Cable Info:
- Cat 5 cables ---- Speeds up to and including 100 Mbps.
- Cat 5e cables -- Speeds up to and including 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps).
* Cat 6 cables ---- Speeds up to and including 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps) + dbl the bandwidth of Cat 5e.
- Cat 6a cables -- Speeds up to and including 10,000 Mbps (10 Gbps) + dbl the bandwidth of Cat 6.

I like how you used Cat 6 cables almost everywhere. I took a quick look at the prices for Cat 5e patch cables vs Cat 6 patch cables and the difference seemed pretty small to me. I'd recommend using the Cat 6 patch cables -- just to make sure my "back office" equipment had as few roadblocks as possible.

As for the question about the cable link between the VoIP phones and the laptops/PCs -- use Cat 5e if either the phone or the laptop only supports 10/100 speeds. Use Cat 6 if BOTH support 10/100/1000 speeds. I say this because one day you may grow large enough to start using File servers & tape backup units and you'll already have most of the cable infrastructure done.

As for the connection order -- the most common would be:
- ISP Line/Coax <---> Modem/Gateway <---> Wi-Fi Router <---> Switch <---> Patch Cables

For a non-expert you did pretty good! I just saw what the first poster said about a PoE (Power over Ethernet) switch... It would make your life a *lot* easier not having to plug a power pack into a wall socket for the phone. In fact, my last company used PoE switches. But there is a bit of a cost differential between non-PoE and PoE switches (which may be offset by the purchase of 8 PoE injectors for your phones). Crunch the numbers, if you have the money -- go for it. Otherwise, continue with your plan...

Good luck!